Stardust Souls
by Golden Moon Huntress
Summary: A family trip to the beach, wild firelizards, and a clutch of eggs. What could possibly go wrong? But then, these kids have never been lucky.
1. In Which the Kids go to the Beach

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern series or A Series of Unfortunate Events.

This started off as a long-ish oneshot, but then it got too long, so it's now five chapters and a shorter epilogue. If anyone's confused, don't worry. So am I. Why did I write this? I don't know. So these kids all come from my ASOUE fic, Unlucky Stars. Basically all you need to know is that they're the Baudelaires if there was a ton of them. Then I decided to write a fic involving them and firelizards, because they need some happiness in their lives. I'm not sure if this counts as a crossover since most of the characters are OCs, but if anyone thinks it does, let me know.

* * *

"Now, be careful," Uncle Monty was saying as the children followed him out across the cliff edge. Violet, the eldest of the siblings, gazed across the sea. Would it be possible, she wondered, to invent something like wings of their own, so they could glide on the breeze? Thoughtfully, she shifted Sunny against her hip, drawing her hair back from her face with her free hand.

"You want me to tie it back?" Damien asked.

"Please."

Damien was Violet's twin brother and the only one of her siblings taller than her. He pulled the ribbon from her pocket and tied her hair back.

"The clutch will be near hatching now, so the firelizards will be rather protective of it."

"Hisssss!" Kyra shouted. She was the third youngest of the girls and had an obsession with reptiles. Why, Indigo wondered, oh why, had their Uncle Monty seen fit to name one of his firelizards 'Hiss?'

Indigo was younger than the twins by just under a turn and, much to her continuing irritation, shorter than both of them by half a head. _Shards_, even Klaus was going to outgrow her in a year or two if she didn't get any taller!

"You must be very careful not to disturb them. They may not allow you to see the clutch this time."

"According to 'Wild Firelizards and Where to Find Them,' firelizards are very defensive of their clutches," Klaus said. He was twelve years old, the middle child (though not by much), and liked to read.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Sofia asked. She was older than Klaus by barely an hour, taller than him by an inch, and constantly trying to keep her brothers out of trouble.

"Perfectly safe, as long as you don't act like a threat."

"I want to explore those caves."

"Elias, how many times?"

"But it looks fun! And there might be green clutches in there!"

"No," replied Indigo.

"But Indigo-!"

"No, Elias," said Violet.

"It's not like you're our mum!" Loki shouted.

Violet winced. Damien squeezed her arm. "He's still hurting."

Loki was seven years old, fascinated by animals, and not coping with the deaths of their parents well. His large, black canine, Dog, was bounding at his side.

"Uncle Monty, do you think we can take one of the eggs?"

"Absolutely not! If you children desire a firelizard, I have more than enough money and connections to obtain you one. Why, one of my good friends has a Queen- Ah, here we are."

They stopped at the slope leading down to the beach.

"Now, do be careful. It's a little steep, and we don't want a repeat of the last time."

The slope was more than 'a little steep,' and the children would have to climb vertically in a few places.

"Sofia, you want me to take Noah?" Damien called.

"No, I've got him!"

Sunny and Noah were the youngest of the siblings, infant twins each no larger than a boot with very, very sharp and strong teeth which they used to bite as many things as they could.

"If you're sure."

"Lavender, where are your shoes?"

"In our basket," Lavender replied, indicating the basket Finn was carrying. Lavender was younger than Indigo by a full turn, and, unlike her older sisters, a dancer rather than a builder.

"Put them back on; you'll hurt your feet!"

"It's fine."

"It's not fine."

"It's fine Indigo."

"Don't cry to me when you hurt yourself."

Lavender slipped down the next section of the slope and held her free hand up to Finn. With her other she was holding Phoebe, who was older than the twins by a year.

"Don't cry to me when you're hurt," Lavender mimicked.

"I heard that!"

* * *

At last all the siblings were down on the beach. Finn and Loki stopped to pull their boots off. The sand was warm beneath their feet.

Uncle Monty smiled. "Here we are! Now, if you just want to enjoy the beach, try to stay down this end of the beach."

Indigo wasn't sure if she could ever enjoy a beach again.

Even now being here brought back unhappy memories.

"If you want to see the firelizards, be very careful. The Queen is rather vicious." He paused to look at them. "Vicious means 'very violent.'"

"We know what vicious means," said Klaus.

Violet handed Sunny to Damien and pulled the notebook Uncle Monty had given her from her pocket, gazing out over the sea as she began to consider and sketch what she wanted.

Finn took his flute from inside his jacket and began to play a low, haunting tune. Lavender pulled a grey blanket from the picnic blanket and laid it on the sand for Phoebe before closing her eyes and beginning to work out some form of dance routine for the music.

Elias rolled his eyes. "Does everything you play have to be totally depressing?"

"We haven't had many happy things to think about recently Elias," Sofia muttered.

"I can assure you children that you have nothing to worry about here. I know your parents are gone, but hopefully together we can make some new happy memories."

Klaus sighed. "I hope so."

"Can we go see the firelizards?" Loki asked, jumping from foot to foot.

"Please!" Kyra shouted, followed by "Hiss!"

"I'll go with you," said Indigo.

"Do you have your meat?"

The children lifted the small sacks of meat Uncle Monty had insisted they bring as treats for the firelizards if they tried to attack. Each of them had two, which were tied to their belts.

"Good, good! Come along then."

The triplets tagged along with the three of them, since most of the caves were down that end of the beach.

Violet and Damien, meanwhile, wandered down to the sea edge so Violet could think away from the boisterousness of her siblings and Finn's haunting flute music. Damien held Sunny's arms at the wrists and held her upright so she could paddle in the water. Lavender spun and twirled on the sand, her long dark hair flying around her.

Kyra pulled at Indigo's hand, grumbling and impatient. "See firelizards! Hiss! Can I have?"

"No; you can't have!"

"Spoilsport," muttered Loki.

"Now Kyra, you must be careful. Firelizards are rather territorial." He paused, frowning at them. "Territorial means defensive."

"We know what territorial means," said Klaus.

"Of course, of course. Well, firelizards defend their areas very- aha!" He stopped abruptly, and Klaus nearly walked straight into him.

"There's one!" He pointed at the rocky cliffside. "Do you see her?"

It took the children a moment, but at last they located the small, green shape perched on a rock shelf watching them.

"Now, where's the rest of your fair?"

"Fight Thread?" Kyra suggested.

"I shouldn't think so. We're not due Thread for another four days.

Perhaps they're gathering in the cave with the clutch."

The clutch was in one of the caves above the tide line at the far end of the beach, half hidden by rocks and fronds. The children had peeked at it during their earlier two visits and counted well over forty eggs. 'A good number,' Uncle Monty had said.

"It is really rather odd we haven't seen any of the others yet. You children wait here; I'm going to take a look."

Dog wuffed.

Uncle Monty hurried away from them, climbing over the rocky wall in front of them.

"I wonder what's up there," Elias mused, gazing up at the green firelizard.

"Elias…"

"It's not like it's high up!" He headed over to the cliffside, finding a foothold in the rock.

Behind them, Finn's tune floated on the wind. It was reaching a bizarre kind of danger note, and even Lavender had stopped to frown at him.

"Finn, what are you doing?"

He didn't reply, focused on his music, which hit a high, haunting, lingering note.

"Um, Finn?"

Damien glanced over his shoulder. "You think he's alright?"

Violet shrugged, adding another line to her sketch. "You know what Finn's like. This is just his way of dealing with things."

"That's a weirder one than usual though. You think he'll write that one out?"

"Probably."

Damien leant back to gave at the rest of their siblings far, far up the beach. "Do you think they'll be safe here Vi?"

"Uncle Monty seems like a good sort."

"Yeah, but… I dunno. First impressions can be deceiving."

"We've been here nearly three sevendays."

"That's still early days."

"I think… I think we need to try to worry slightly less."

"Worry less? Vi, you know he's still out there!"

She flinched, glancing up and down the beach as though he might appear from the rocks or emerge from the sea like some form of demon. "Of course I know that! I just think we need to give Uncle Monty a fair chance. He's been nothing but nice to us."

Finn's warbling note echoed across the beach. Violet finally looked up from her sketchbook, glancing round at him. "You're right. That one is weirder than normal."

Further up the beach, Loki had darted ahead of Indigo and Kyra with Dog and was climbing up the rocks at the end of the sandy stretch.

"Loki! Get back here!"

"Nuh uh!"

"You'll hurt yourself!"

"Will not!"

"Loki!"

Loki yelped as he slid down the other side, landing on his chest and elbows and knocking the air from his lungs. Dog wuffed, bounding up the rocks like they were flat ground. There was a shrill chirp from somewhere above him. He lifted his head, meeting a pair of whirling red eyes.

Somewhere out behind him, Finn was still playing. The song was high pitched and haunting, long, trilling notes that and low, humming ones. It felt like something he needed as he played, the taste of copper and smoke in the air, a strange sense of... emptiness around him. It felt like he was putting everything, the loss and the pain and the fear and hope from the last half turn into the tune. Lavender had given up trying to dance to it, and was showing Phoebe some of the nearby rock pools.

"Snappy!" she shouted, pounting out a crab.

"That's right Phoebs! Snappy."

"Swishies?"

"I don't see any."

Violet had finally finished her sketch, satisfied with her design. "Do you think Uncle Monty would let me get the materials for something like this?"

"Fabric and wood? I don't see why not. He got you all that wood to make those pipes for Finn."

"Yes, but that was a musical instrument."

Indigo set Kyra down and climbed up behind Loki and Dog. It was a high rocky lump, sticking up from the sand and then sloping down into the sand again. Beneath her, Loki was laid on that sand, gazing up at the large Queen firelizard. One of her three bronzes was perched a little higher up the cliff, whipping his tail as though agitated.

An array of browns, blues and greens were fluttering and perched around the rocks and bluff, chirping and shrieking. Indigo had never seen them in a frenzy like this during any of their earlier trips.

"I think they're scared."

"Of what?"

"I dunno."

Elias had reached the ledge the green had been perched on. She had vanished with a cross squawk as he neared her, and hadn't come back. Klaus clambered up behind him. "Next foothold by your left knee. Can you see anything yet?"

"Almost. Hang on." Elias pushed himself up another length, bringing him eye level with the ledge. It led back into a shallow sort of nook, inside which he could see seven small speckled eggs nestled.

"It's a nest!" he called back excitedly, scrabbling for another foothold with his right foot. For a moment he swayed and struggled for balance. Sofia watched the two boys from below, taking a step back. It would hardly be the first time Elias had lost his balance and fallen to the sand below. At last though, he found a ledge he could put his foot on and caught himself. Now he was higher, he could haul himself up onto the shallow ledge. He held his hand down for Klaus, who joined him. The two of them peered in at the eggs. They were small, smaller than those of the Queen that they had seen on their last few visits.

"What do you think we should do?"

"Probably best to leave them," said Klaus, looking out over the beach. Back the way they had come from, he could see Lavender rushing over to the twins, Phoebe hefted against her hip, waving one arm. Down beneath them, Sofia followed her brother's gaze and then Lavender's wild indications somewhere diagonally behind them and a little out to sea.

"Violet!" Lavender called as she rushed over the damp sand to her eldest siblings. "Damien! Look!"

Violet whirled round. "Look at what?"

Lavender jabbed a hand behind them at a silvery fog on the horizon. Damien gazed over her head at it. "Shards."


	2. In Which the Kids Defy Fate

**Author's Note**

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern or A Series of Unfortunate Events. All rights to their rightful owners.

A big thank you and shoutout to dragonmom1059 for the follow!

* * *

"We need to get back to the croft."

Damien shook his head, shifting Sunny and against him and wrapping her in his arms as though that would somehow protect her. "There's not enough time."

"I thought we weren't due Threadfall," Violet said.

"Do you want to tell the Thread that?"

Violet squared her shoulders, as though preparing to fight the Thread herself. "We need to get down to the caves at the other end. There are plenty big enough to shelter us; we can sit it out there."

Finn's tune hit a sharp, trilling note. Lavender shoved Phoebe at Violet and sprinted back to her younger brother to grab his arm, cutting off the song. "We have to go."

"What?"

"Threadfall; we have to get down to the caves." She snatched up the blanket, shoving it into the picnic basket.

"Leave that!" Damien shouted, already trying to herd Violet ahead of him towards the other end of the beach. Lavender picked up the basket in one hand and grabbed Finn's arm with the other, dragging him behind her after the twins. He glanced anxiously over his shoulder at the slowly approaching Threadfall, which was illuminated by distant flashes of red.

"Elias!" Sofia screamed up the cliff. Noah wailed at the sudden loud noise too close to his ears.

"Klaus! Do you see that?"

"We see it!" Klaus shouted back.

"What do we do?"

"Vi and the others are coming this way!"

"Can you make it up here? This cave might just be big enough for all of us!"

"I could, but not with Noah in my arms dimglow!"

"We need a lower cave," Klaus said.

"The one from last time," Elias said. "Remember? That one's easier to reach."

"Yeah, that'd be perfect! Sofia, the cave from before, the bigger one!"

"Got it!" She turned and set off across the rocks, scrambling with her feet and free hand.

"What about the eggs?" Elias asked.

"Leave them!"

"But-"

"They should be safe here. Come on." Klaus spun himself round and slid from the ledge on his stomach, dangling by his hands for a moment before finding footholds and beginning the climb down. Elias hesitated still, and then swung his knapsack from his shoulder, opening it and gently lifting the eggs inside.

"Elias!"

"Coming!" He pulled the knapsack shut, carefully lifted it onto his shoulder, and followed his brother.

* * *

As the first strand of Thread reached the other end of the beach, the clustered firelizards vanished with angry screeches, reappearing above and around the cliffs a moment later, swirling around and trilling with fury.

Indigo stood precariously on the rocky precipice, waving her arms as Violet, Damien, Lavender and Finn sprinted down the beach towards them.

"Uncle Monty!" she called. "Uncle Monty!"

There was no reply.

"Loki, do you see him?"

"No!"

Elias and Klaus were rapidly scaling down the cliffside, while Sofia was carrying Noah over the large rocks, scrambling and stumbling, her blonde hair flying around her face. Vi and Damien were about halfway to them now, running full pelt towards them. Behind them and far, far above, Indigo could see the flashes of red from the distant dragons. The Threadfall looked heavy, though Indigo had only seen four Falls outside and personally. As she watched, however, she could see an enormous mass of the stuff fall, devouring the dragons beneath it.

"Loki," she called slowly. Her brother squinted up at her.

"Yeah?"

"Get inside the cave."

"With the eggs?"

"Yes. Now."

"But Uncle Monty said-"

"I _know_ what Uncle Monty said, now get inside the cave!"

Loki nodded and scrabbled up the short distance to the clutch cave, calling for Dog. He had only ever seen inside from a short distance away, peering at the eggs with fascination, but now there were no firelizards there on guard and he slipped inside, crawling around the eggs to the back. Dog pricked his ears up as he looked at the eggs.

"No," Loki said, patting the ground next to him. Dog wagged his tail and bounded around the edge of the cave to sit down next to him. Loki lowered himself a little closer to the ground, peering under the fronds and out at Indigo.

There was so much Thread coming past the dragons. If her siblings didn't make it to the caves, they would be eaten alive. Indigo slid back down to Kyra, grabbed her, although she really was a little too big to be carried, and hauled her back up the rocks.

"Scary."

"I know, I know." Indigo slithered down the other side and climbed halfway up to the firelizard cave, lifting Kyra up to it. Her sister kicked and scrabbled against the stone before finding a grip and crawling inside. Indigo turned and returned to her vantage point, waving her arms frantically. After everything they'd been through, she couldn't lose her family like this.

"Come on! Run faster!"

Lavender dropped the picnic basket, still pulling Finn along. He was the smallest of them running, and less accustomed to physical exertion than the rest of them. She didn't want to look back at the Thread behind them. They could taste smoke amongst the salty breeze, the stench of charring and blood. Something cut deep into her foot and she cried out, stumbling. Finn steadied her before she could fall, forcing her to keep moving. They could see Indigo up ahead of them, balanced on a rocky ledge and waving her arms, screaming at them. Violet glanced back over her shoulder. The leading edge was past the other edge of the beach, encroaching rapidly on where they had been stood only minutes before, and there was still a long strip of beach in front of them.

_You're the eldest_, their parents had once said to her, _you need to take care of your siblings_.

Violet wasn't entirely sure that this was what they had meant.

Sofia clambered over the rocks in what she remembered was the general direction of the cave they had explored before. She could hear the boys behind her, now back on the ground and hurrying to catch up. Noah was still wailing, crying, unaware of what was happening.

"It's alright," she gasped. "It's going to be alright."

"Sofia!" Indigo shouted, waving her arms. "The firelizard cave!" She waved an arm behind her. Sofia weighed up her options for a moment, and then dug her fingers deeper into his tunic and leapt from her rocky path to the side of the one Indigo was stood on. A few pebbles clattered away under her feet.

"Where are you going?" Elias shouted from behind her.

"The firelizard cave!" Sofia called back.

"Oh, so now we're allowed in the firelizard cave!"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "We're about to be caught out in Threadfall Elias, I think exonerating circumstances can be applied here!"

"Yeah yeah yeah; whatever!"

Violet risked a glance back over her shoulder, sucking in a sharp breath at just how close the Threadfall was to them. Was there another option, she wondered? Could they jump in the water? Thread drowned – but so would they if they couldn't hold their breath for long enough, and Sunny and Phoebe couldn't swim, nor was it Finn's strongest area.

Damien slowed for a moment and reached back to grab Lavender's arm as she started to fall behind, yanking her up alongside him. Her foot was burning and she didn't dare look down to check the damage as she ran, afraid it might make her ankle give way if she made the wound real. Finn fingered his flute, trying to hold onto the song in his head as his heartbeat echoed in his ears.

Klaus and Elias followed Sofia's path, leaping onto the other precipice and scrambling easily along it to the stretch of sand below that led up to the firelizard cave. Sofia had already lifted Noah in ahead of herself and was now climbing into the cave behind him. Elias linked his fingers and reached up. "I'll give you a boost."

She felt him hook his hands under her boot and pushed herself the last short distance into the cave. Loki, Dog and Kyra were huddled at the back, and Noah had crawled a short way inside towards them. Sofia spun round and laid on her stomach to hang her hands over for her brothers. Klaus went first, Elias giving him a boost, and then the two of them reached down to pull Elias in behind them.

The Threadfall was maybe halfway up the beach by now, Indigo's dark figure illuminated against it.

"Indigo!" Elias called. "Come on!"

"Vi!" she screamed. "Damien! Hurry up!"

"Indigo!"

She turned to look at them, and then whipped round again to scream for the rest of their siblings.

"Indigo! Get inside!"

At last she slid down the rocky outcrop and darted across to the cliff face, finding a foothold and reaching up to her younger siblings. The two boys took her hands, hauling her up as she kicked and scrabbled against the rock.

"Thanks," she gasped.

"Yeah," Klaus muttered, staring out at the rapidly approaching Thread and the flashes from the dragons above them. Above their heads, the firelizards continued to screech.

"We should be safe in here. We'll just have to sit it out." Indigo crouched at the cave mouth, watching as the Thread slowly got closer and closer. How close were the others now, she wondered, or had they already been devoured?

"Uncle Monty?" she called, glancing up and down the cliff. There was no sign of him. Hopefully, she thought, he was just sheltering in one of the other caves. It felt a little cowardly though, that he was sheltering alone and had done nothing to help them.

* * *

Violet and her younger siblings were near the rocks and caves now, so close to shelter, but Thread was still moving towards them. Could it sense them, she wondered, was it hoping to make them its next meal? She scrambled up onto the rocks, trembling, and Damien boosted her up from below, hooking his free hand under her boot and shoving her up. Lavender pushed Finn ahead of her and boosted him up the outcrop of rock. He scrambled up alongside Violet, reaching back down to take Lavender's hand. Damien was last, climbing easily up the rocks. A glance back at the beach told him that Thread was maybe fifteen lengths away now, slowly getting closer.

Violet slid down to the other side of the rocks. Indigo leant over the edge of the cave to look down at her. Violet held Phoebe up. "Take her take her take her!"

Indigo grabbed her by the wrists and yanked her up into the cave. Phoebe wailed in surprise. Damien passed Sunny to Violet and stopped at the base of the rocks to help Lavender and Finn down. Violet shoved Sunny up to Indigo and then she and Damien knelt and boosted Finn up to the cave. He scrambled inside. Lavender was next, accepting Indigo's hand to steady herself and crawl into the cave. Damien helped Violet up next, and then climbed up the cliffside himself, rolling into the cave. Behind them, Thread was mere lengths from the rocks they had just climbed over.


	3. In Which the Kids Face a New Problem

**Author's Note**

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern or A Series of Unfortunate Events.

* * *

The siblings huddled at the back of the cave. Outside, they could see Thread was falling in massive sheets, breaking past the dragonwings and floating to the ground.

Lavender gazed out at it. "I wish we had a flamethrower. Ow!"

"Sorry," muttered Sofia, who was examining her injured foot. There was a long, deep gash across the sole of her foot, from her heel to her arch.

"Has anyone got any water?"

The siblings glanced round at each other, until at last Indigo pulled her waterskein from one of her belt pouches, passing it over to her younger sister. Sofia uncapped it and sloshed some over Lavender's foot, pulling out her handkerchief to clean away the blood.

They could hear the frenzied cries of the firelizards and watched as they swooped outside the cave, screeching defiantly at Thread and spitting fire. As they watched, one of the browns was engulfed by Thread and vanished with a shriek. Several others had already met the same fate. They didn't want to think about it.

"Do you think we'll be safe here?" Finn asked.

"I think so," Violet replied. "This cliff is solid stone; as long as the Thread doesn't blow in from outside we should be safe."

Elias opened his knapsack and lifted out the seven eggs he had taken from the smaller nest. Indigo frowned. "Where did you get those?"

Klaus turned to him. "You took those?"

"I couldn't just leave them!"

"Elias!"

"There was a green nest. I couldn't leave them there."

Indigo sighed. "Fine."

Elias nestled them into the sand with the eggs of the Queen's nest.

"They might not hatch anyway. Green eggs are often duds," Klaus said.

"Well, they deserved a chance."

One of the bronze firelizards popped from _between_, flapping his wings desperately. He slammed into Damien's legs, rolled with a surprised squawk, and fell with the most awful crack onto three of the eggs. Two rolled away, one unharmed and one cracked, but the other shattered, spilling a tiny, pale, wet form onto the warm sand.

"Oh no!" wailed Loki.

The hatchling twitched, flapping its overlarge, wet wings, creeling. The bronze trilled an alarmed cry, flapping his wings as he tried to right himself and splattering ichor everywhere. Violet pulled off her jacket and draped it over him, lifting him to the side. "You got that numbweed Sofia?"

Sofia fumbled in her bag for the small pot she now carried as a matter of habit and pushed it to her. Damien unscrewed the metal cap. "Here; I'll hold him."

The bronze hissed and screeched crossly, snapping at his hands. Damien pulled the jacket over its head. "Stop that! Don't you know we're trying to help you you silly thing?"

The Queen popped from _between_, flailing wildly as she tumbled through the air. Elias dove forwards, swaying for balance momentarily, and caught her around the body, pulling her aside. She shrieked, screeched, and bit his hand, hard. He yelled and dropped her heavily beside the clutch. "Sorry for making sure you didn't break any more of your eggs."

She chirped piteously. She was coated with ichor, one leg almost entirely eaten away and another held at an awkward angle. She laid down next to her clutch with a sharp trill.

Keeping her eyes on her, Indigo reached out and scooped up the tiny hatchling. It flapped furious wings, chirping and creeling. She tried to focus on happy feelings, pulling out her handkerchief and gently dabbing it dry. It chirped gratefully, and suddenly she could feel its hunger, tainted somewhat by surprise. She fumbled with the sack of meat at her waist, pulling out a chunk and shoving it at the hatchling. It snapped it down. It was fully formed by what she could tell, somewhat shocked by its sudden emergence into the world but otherwise ready to hatch.

She looked to the Queen, whose eyes were spinning in rainbow facets.

"Oh no."

Damien uncovered the bronze's injured wing, gripping the tip between two fingers and holding it out. Violet covered her hand with her sleeves and dipped it into the pot, carefully spreading the numbweed across the rather cross bronze's wing.

"What's 'oh no?'"

Two greens popped from _between_, both threadscored, and landed on ledges in the cave. The Queen began to hum, gazing expectantly at her eggs despite her injuries.

"That."

Outside the cave, one of the other bronzes was engulfed by Thread and vanished _between_. The one Damien was still holding had at last stopped trying to bite him through the jacket and was allowing Violet to carefully probe his wing. There was a hole straight through it, the edges blackened and burnt. She licked her lips

One of the larger eggs gave a sudden, slight rock. Indigo shoved another chunk of meat at the hatchling in her lap.

"What do we do?" Finn asked. From the corner of his eye he saw a blue outside the cave vanish _between_.

"They'll die out there!" Klaus cried.

"Hiss!" shouted Kyra.

Two blues and a brown popped from _between_, one of the blues managing to land beside a green while the other crashed to the sandy floor dangerously close to the clutch. The brown landed heavily next to Loki, humming encouragingly. Outside, Indigo could see less than half the small fair now, screeching desperately at the falling Thread.

Two more of the eggs began to rock as cracks spread across the first. The humming of the adult firelizards grew louder and more frantic. The first egg broke open, spilling a dark, wet body across the sand. He righted himself and flapped his wings experimentally, a little more lively than his unexpectedly hatched brother, and squeaked as he stumbled across the sandy floor towards the cave mouth. A green vanished _between_, covered in Thread, shrieking in pain. Violet hesitated a moment longer and then reached out and snatched the hatchling, pulling a chunk of meat from her pouch to offer him. "Catch as many as you can, feed them!"

Elias grinned. "Seriously?"

Indigo rolled her eyes. "No Elias; she wants us to let them wander out and get eaten by Thread."

There were four more eggs rocking now, thin cracks forming across the shells. Two more broke open, revealing a bronze and a second blue, while a green claw broke through a third. Damien caught the two hatchlings as they flapped their wings, shoving meat at them. They snapped it up, hissing and snarling at each other.

"Be nice," he scolded as another three eggs broke open. Klaus, Elias, and Finn grabbed one each, quickly shovelling food at them.

Another two eggs hatched, twin hatchlings that fell on each other with hisses and growls, beating at each other with their wet wings and creeling with hunger. They knocked into another as they bickered, cracking it open. Indigo pulled them apart, stuffing chunks of meat into their gaping mouths, while Lavender snatched up the third.

More eggs were spilling open now, a bronze, two more browns, a pair of blues, a trio of greens. They squawked and flapped their damp wings, glistening with egg fluid, stumbling their way across the cave towards the mouth. The adult firelizards hummed in encouragement. The Queen gave one last crooning trill and blinked _between_.

"Gone," said Kyra sadly. Klaus dropped one of the blue hatchlings in her lap while Loki grabbed the other.

One of the greens escaped past Sofia as she tried to grab it, but she managed to catch the bronze, shoving food at it. Another brown got past Violet as she made a wild snatch for the pair. She caught the second, shoving food at him, while Lavender and Sofia managed to catch the remaining greens.

More eggs were breaking open, spilling tiny baby firelizards across the cave, too many to fully keep track of now. The siblings caught them at random as they scattered over the sandy floor: a pair of blues for Damien and a pair of greens for Sofia; a brown and a blue for Loki; a bronze for Indigo and a brown for Lavender; a blue and a green for Violet; a blue for each of the triplets and a trio of greens for Finn. Kyra tempted over another blue and Indigo passed a blue and a brown to the littlest twins, who clumsily stuffed meat into their mouths. Phoebe caught a brown of her own by tackling it and cramming a messy handful of meat at its face.

Despite their best efforts, however, some still escaped past them into the horror of Thread outside the cave: two greens and a blue, a little brown and a bronze. Within seconds all of them were engulfed.

Damien found himself with another little bronze, while Lavender tried to block a trio of greens and a blue from escaping the cave by blocking it with her body. She caught the blue and one green, but the remaining two shot past her. Klaus snatched up a tiny, pale green and Indigo another brown, while Violet found herself holding the only gold of the clutch. Three greens started a fight over Phoebe's spilt bag of meat, ignoring Indigo's attempt to split them up. Another blue evaded Damien's attempt to catch him, dropping over the ledge of the cave, but Violet managed to catch another little green diving at his face, shoving what was left of her meat at her. A fifth green joined in with the battle for the spilt meat, shrieking and squealing.

There were only four unhatched eggs now, along with the seven Elias had rescued. Two of them were rocking furiously, long cracks marking the shells, but the remaining two were still. One of those rocking split open, revealing a small blue head. He tumbled from the remains of his egg and Elias held out a chunk of meat, which he snapped up eagerly. The other shattered, revealing a pretty looking green. Klaus caught her and fed her what was left of his meat until he felt her contented fullness.

The last two eggs sat still.

"Not hatch?" Kyra asked.

"I guess not," Violet replied.

"According to 'A Basic Guide to Firelizards,' there are often two or three duds in a clutch," said Klaus.

Indigo picked up one of the eggs, shaking it slightly. "Hollow. I guess it never even developed."

Lavender gazed out at the Thread that was still falling and the red flashes from the dragons above. There was no sign of the rest of the firelizard fair. The only adults that remained were those that had returned to the cave.

"What do we do now?"

"We wait here," Violet said. "Threadfall will pass eventually, and then we can find Uncle Monty and get back to the croft."

Sunny yawned. "Nap."

Klaus picked her up and held her in his arms so she'd be more comfortable. Sofia picked up Noah and Lavender picked up Phoebe, who was still trying to cuddle her brown like a stuffed toy.

"Phoebs, he's a living thing, and a baby. You can't hold him so tight."

"Soft!"

"I know, but you still can't hold him that tight."

Phoebe huffed, but slackened her hold on the little firelizard.

Kyra laid down and curled up against Dog, laying her head on his side. He whined softly, slowly wagging his tail.

Indigo crawled closer to Violet and Damien, who were the closest to the mouth of the cave. The injured bronze firelizard had finally fallen asleep on Violet's jacket.

"Do you think this is normal?"

Violet flinched slightly as a dragon – a brown or a bronze, Indigo couldn't tell from this distance – flashed _between_.

"No."

Indigo winced. "You- You don't think he's left us do you?"

"I think we shouldn't make assumptions until we know all the facts."

"But it's a possibility. He lied to us; he said Threadfall wasn't due for four days."

"It wasn't."

"What?"

"I checked the charts yesterday; I was going to walk sweep. We weren't due Threadfall for four days. This is out of pattern."

"Oh."

Damien patted her shoulder. "We're safe here now. We just have to wait it out."

Outside, there was Thread piling up on the beach, heaped on top of the rocks, trying to burrow into the sand and stone. Even when the Fall passed, Violet thought, they would have to wait a long while before they could leave, perhaps even until the tide had come in to drown the silver menace and gone back out again.

"But where is he? He can't just tell us that we have nothing to worry about and then fardling vanish!"

Damien wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him. "Maybe he couldn't reach us in time. Maybe he's sheltering in one of the other caves, or under one of the ledges."

"Or maybe he left us."

"Worrying about maybes won't help us right now," Violet said, gazing down at the sleeping bronze firelizard. "Lav, how's your foot?"

Lavender shifted, drawing her foot up to her side and wriggling her toes. "Hurts a bit, but it's stopped bleeding."

"That must be good."

Outside, Thread continued to pile up.


	4. In Which the Kids Venture Forth

**Author's Note**

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern or A Series of Unfortunate Events.

* * *

They could do nothing but wait. The little ones had all fallen asleep, and even Finn had curled up in the corner of the cave and closed his eyes. The older ones however, sat and watched the Threadfall through the mouth of the cave and the desperate flashes of red from the dragons. Damien saw many of them engulfed by the Thread the same way the firelizards had been and vanish _between_. Was that normal, he wondered, and then decided it couldn't possibly be. If they lost that many dragons every Fall, they wouldn't be able to hatch enough to maintain the numbers. Unless, of course, some were going _between_ back to the Weyr. By the way Violet flinched at every other dragon flitting _between_, and the feeling of _loss_ in his heart, he suspected that was not the case. He and Vi had always been attuned to each other, and she more so to other living things. Her fingers dug into his arm as one of the great golden Queens vanished _between_. She did not reappear.

It was a shame, Violet thought, that they could not call Hiss and Ink to them to tell them where Uncle Monty was. She tried to do so, but she wasn't really sure what she was doing, and with every dragon that vanished _between_, the sense of loss grew stronger.

At last the trailing edge of Thread began to pass over. The last Wing of dragons continued to battle overhead, and then they were past the cliffs and gone.

"Finally," Elias said, stretching out and moving towards the cave mouth. Violet caught his jacket collar.

"What now?"

She set her little Queen, who had been asleep in her lap, aside and crawled to the cave mouth, peering over the edge. Great piles of Thread continued to writhe and attempt to burrow on the shore of the beach.

"We'll have to wait a little longer. I don't think it would be safe to walk through that, especially for Lavender, Finn, and Loki."

The three were still barefoot, their boots having been abandoned at the far end of the beach and likely now devoured by Thread.

Elias sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Fine."

Violet scrabbled about the cave floor, picking up a largish piece of egg shell, which she tossed into the writing mass below. It was devoured in a heartbeat, the silver Thread eating straight through it.

"Definitely safer up here for now."

"But we can't just stay here forever!" Elias couldn't help envisioning being trapped in this cave, slowly dying of starvation and dehydration while feet away from water they couldn't drink. No one would even know they were out here; no one would look for them.

Indigo rolled her eyes. "Of course not. We just wait for the tide to come in, right Vi?"

Violet smiled grimly. "Exactly. All the Thread will drown, the tide will go back out, and we'll be able to walk back up the beach and get help to look for Uncle Monty."

"Oh," said Elias, feeling stupid.

Violet shuffled back into the cave. They were safe, they were all going to be fine. She stroked the little gold firelizard, gazing out at the now blue sky. They were all going to be fine. Now she had to make herself believe it.

* * *

Damien watched as the piled up Thread began to wither, unable to burrow through the sand and stone of the beach. A small, dark shape appeared by the cliff, trilling when he saw them.

"Ink!" Klaus exclaimed. Finn jerked awake, startling the two green hatchlings twined around his neck.

"Ink?"

Ink chirped, tiredly. Like the other firelizards he had been threadscored, for him down his side and neck.

"Ink, where's Uncle Monty?" Violet asked, trying to think the question at the firelizard as she did so. She received an impression of stone and pain and red blood.

"I think he's got a note attached," Indigo said, reaching out to take the small roll of paper from the collar fastened to Ink's neck. She unrolled it with careful fingers, flattening it on her knee.

"Well? What's he say?"

"Children. I have fallen. Please return with help. Uncle Monty."

"Fallen? Is he injured? What if he's not high enough for when the tide comes in? We have to help him!"

"Elias." Indigo caught his arm as he dove for the cave mouth. "Getting injured ourselves won't help Uncle Monty."

"But-"

"Indigo's right Elias. We'll have to wait at least until the Thread down there has withered."

* * *

The wait was painful. Below them and outside the cave the Thread withered away, unable to burrow in the stone and sand. Violet tossed out pieces of egg shells at irregular intervals. When at last the Thread failed to immediately devour it she tossed out a little more to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and they waited another ten minutes, just in case. Finally, Damien positioned himself in the mouth of the cave. "Wait here."

He climbed down, Ink fluttering around his head. Thread flopped uselessly about his feet.

"Can you take me to Uncle Monty?"

Ink trilled and dove ahead, darting across the stretch of rock Sofia had scrambled across earlier and then returning to chirp at Damien for not following him fast enough.

Damien followed, picking his way carefully across the rocks and trying to avoid the biggest piles of Thread. Ink led him to a small cave in the cliff side, hidden by a large, jagged rock shelf.

"Uncle Monty?"

"Oh! Children, is that you?"

"It's Damien. Hang on, I'll come down to you."

"Be careful! That's how I hurt myself!"

He had, Damien found when he reached him, done a little more than hurt himself. One of his legs was bent under him at an angle, and his face was plastered with blood.

"Are you children alright?"

"We're all fine. I'm more worried about you."

"I'm afraid I believe my leg is broken."

"I can see that."

Where was Sofia when you needed her?

"We'll have to wait for the Thread to die. Then we can get you out of here."

"Ah, thank you. This is a most unfortunate accident."

He could say that again.

"Oh, the firelizards- what about the firelizards?"

Damien shifted awkwardly. "I- Um- I think a lot of them died in the Fall."

Uncle Monty looked heartbroken, just about ready to cry.

"And the eggs hatched. We- We fed them and Impressed them, so they wouldn't go out in the Thread."

"Klaus!"

"Damien."

"I made it quite clear those eggs were not-"

"If we hadn't they'd have all flown out into the Fall," Damien said. "Some of them still did."

"Well, I suppose what's done can't be undone now."

* * *

Damien called Violet over to where Uncle Monty was while he picked a path over the rocks to peer at the beach. It looked like there was more Thread than sand, piled high. Damien slid back to return to Violet. The injured bronze firelizard had attached himself to the bodice of her dress, digging his claws into the fabric. Her hatchling Queen and one of the browns were curled together around her neck.

"There's heaps of Thread that way. We're going to have to wait for the tide."

"Or…" Violet mused, looking out to sea.

Damien frowned, following her gaze. "Or what…" he started, as it clicked what Violet was thinking. He squinted up the beach, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand. "It would be less risky."

"And it would get us out of here faster."


	5. In Which the Kids Care for Themselves

**Author's Note**

I do not own Dragonriders of Pern or A Series of Unfortunate Events.

* * *

With the help of Indigo, Lavender and Elias, they managed to half help, half manhandle Uncle Monty from the cave. Damien, Violet, Indigo and Elias carried him between them, wading into the icy water. Klaus and Sofia picked up Sunny and Noah and Finn took Phoebe.

"What about these?" Loki asked as he dangled his legs from the cave mouth, touching the green eggs Elias had rescued. Lavender hesitated a moment and then told him to take them with them. He packed them carefully back into Elias's abandoned knapsack and lifted it onto his back.

Lavender scooped up Kyra. Although she was really too big to be carried anymore, she was still too short for the waist high water. She wrapped her arms tight around Lavender's neck and worked her stumpy legs around her waist, laying her head on her shoulder. The salt water stung Lavender's wounded foot, and she hissed slightly, trying to tell herself this might do her some good. The salt water would help clean the wound.

At last they were parallel with the slope they usually used for coming down to the beach. There was nothing left of Finn and Loki's boots on the rocks where they had placed them.

"Maybe we should try to find an easier place to climb up."

"There is none," Uncle Monty said tiredly. "You would have to go all the way to the far end of the beach, where the boats dock."

Klaus squinted into the distance. He couldn't even see the patch of beach where the fishermen beached the rowing boats when they weren't in use.

"I'll go first," said Damien.

He kicked at the piled up, dying Thread, clearing a path to the steep slope. It didn't even try to burrow into his boots. His siblings followed carefully behind, carrying Uncle Monty between them.

They had to drag him up the slope, Damien and Violet scrambling up first and leaning down to pull him up behind them. The flat, brushy ground stretched out around them, marked by burnt Thread burrows.

"There's so much damage," whispered Sofia, glancing around herself. She had never seen so much damage left behind after a Fall. Usually the dragonriders flamed the worst of the Thread from the air, with more being killed by walkers on sweep-

Violet shuddered suddenly. "Walkers on sweep," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

It was perhaps only then they realised, despite their misfortune, how truly lucky they had been. On the beach they had had the caves to run to and shelter in, keeping solid stone above their heads. Out here they would have been so completely exposed.

"Let's get back to the croft," Violet said. "Klaus, Sofia, do you think you could run ahead to the Hold and tell the Healer?"

Indigo gazed at the flashes of silver and red in the distance. "I imagine the Healer's going to be busy."

* * *

The trek home felt ten times as long as their walk out. Ink and Hiss fluttered about them, spending time perched variably on Uncle Monty and the siblings' shoulders, much to the displeasure of their own newly hatched firelizards, which chirped crossly every time one of the adults disturbed them. The injured bronze, who Violet had fashioned a sling for out of her jacket since he was now apparently determined to cling to her, hissed crossly and snapped at them when they jostled him, a warning which kept them away from her.

Klaus and Sofia ran ahead, laden down with their own accumulated firelizards. They found the Hold in disarray. Injured sweepwalkers in wherhide were being stretchered up to the Hold Healer Hall. All were badly threadscored, some were burnt and screaming, others were coated with blood. They wove their way up to the Hall, where the two Hold Healers were busy treating the injured. Klaus explained about Uncle Monty and scrawled out a memo with their address for once one of the Healers was able to get to them.

* * *

It would be evening before that could happen. The siblings settled Uncle Monty in his bed and Sofia treated him as best she could, patching up his head wound and straightening out his broken leg so she could bandage it. Damien and Violet boiled buckets of water and poured out a hot bath, bathing the littlies first before emptying half the water and topping it up again for Loki and Finn.

"I think it'll be alright," Sofia said, patting Uncle Monty's arm. The bronze firelizard wrapped around her forearm chirped at the disturbance.

"Hopefully the Healer will come soon and bring you some fellis."

"Thank you my dear."

Elias and Loki brought him the eggs from the green nest, and he talked them through fetching a tray from the kitchen and filling it with ash from the fireplace to build a makeshift nest, and then stocking up the fire to keep them warm.

"They may not hatch. Green eggs often don't."

"But they deserve a chance," Elias said defiantly.

"Of course they do."

Elias set up the makeshift nest in the bedroom he shared with Klaus and Sofia, carefully positioning the eggs in the ash. His twin blue hatchlings trilled happily.

"What do you think?" he asked them. The brown, which had settled on his bed, chirped.

"You think they'll hatch?"

They felt heavy enough to, he thought, but he didn't know too much about firelizard egg conditions.

Violet took the injured bronze to Uncle Monty. He hissed, his multifaceted eyes whirring an angry red.

"Don't do that! He can help you!" she scolded. The bronze made a noise like an angry bird and clung to her dress, tearing it as she tried to disentangle him.

"Oh, now look what you've gone and done! You know I'll have to mend that?"

"I'm not surprised he won't let me handle him. Many wild firelizards won't you know. They're really rather shy. I'm surprised he's allowing you to handle him."

Violet gently held the bronze's wing out from Uncle Monty to have a look. He said if it healed, it would always be badly scarred, and if it didn't, the bronze would always have a hole through his wing membrane.

"Would he be able to fly like that?" Damien asked.

"Doubtful."

The bronze hissed as Violet carefully folded his wing back in and leapt up onto her forearm, digging his talons into her skin.

"Ow! That hurts!"

He hissed again and wrapped his tail around her arm.

"I am sorry children. I'm supposed to protect you. I failed."

"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known."

Damien scratched the head of the blue hatchling currently perched on his shoulder. "And it all worked out in the end."

"But you should never have been in that position to begin with. I can't apologise enough for what happened."

Violet sighed as the bronze climbed onto her shoulder. Blood beaded from the shallow wounds his talons had left behind.

"We'll work it out. Don't worry."

* * *

The Healer came long after dark had fallen. He checked Sofia's work over and redid the bandages, as well as providing them with a small pot of fellis.

"Now, be careful with the dosage. You can only give him a cupful at one time. I recommend mixing it with milk or wine."

Sofia watched closely as he demonstrated. "Got it."

"The Fall has injured a lot of people. You children were very lucky."

Violet smiled. "We know."

* * *

She and Damien saw the Healer out. He assured them he would come again in the morning to check on Uncle Monty's condition. They thanked him greatly and returned to Uncle Monty's room, where Sofia was handing him the small cup of fellis.

"You children should get some sleep too."

"We will," Sofia assured him. She was so tired she thought if she didn't lay down soon she might just collapse and sleep on the stone floor of the croft.

"Good. I know you might have to care for yourselves for a few sevendays-"

"Not like we're not used to doing that," said Indigo.

Uncle Monty's face fell. "I'm sorry Lilac."

"Indigo."

"I would never knowingly do anything to hurt you children. I want you to feel like this is your home."

Violet smiled, but she wasn't sure if anything would ever feel like home again.


	6. In Which the Kids are Happy

**Author's Note**

And this is the conclusion for this fic!

I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern.

* * *

Elias, Klaus and Loki sat in front of the fireplace, watching the seven eggs in the makeshift nest. They had discussed it with Uncle Monty, talking over keeping them in the croft until they hatched and then allowing them to be wild or even selling them at the Hold, for there would certainly be buyers, even for eggs laid by a green.

"But I would feel bad if they were duds," Elias reasoned. Uncle Monty seemed fairly convinced that at least two of them were, and possibly a third. Some of them had a good chance though, so now the three boys were sat waiting with a dish of meat at their sides. Klaus had a book on his lap while Dog was playing lazily with Loki's three blues. Elias's brown and one of his blues were wrapped around his neck. Their siblings had all told them that they had more than enough firelizards already – Violet had six, plus the adult bronze, which was still refusing to let go of her unless Damien physically removed him - and since they had been the ones to rescue the clutch they should be the ones to Impress the little hatchlings.

At last, at about midday, the biggest of the eggs gave a sudden rock. Elias started and straightened up. "Look!"

It rocked again, thin cracks spreading across the shell. The three boys waited as the cracks widened, until at last the shell split open and a tiny brown firelizard was spilt into the ash. He looked smaller than his brown Pitch had done when he hatched, Elias thought as he scooped him up and began to feed him.

It was a long five minutes before another two of the eggs began to rock. One gave a particularly violent lurch, crashing into the other and breaking it open, revealing a rather dazed looking green. Loki scooped her up and began feeding her as a blue head emerged from the other egg. Klaus waited until he had chipped away at the shell enough to free himself, and then picked him up to feed him.

The smallest of the remaining eggs rocked gently. The cracks widened across it until it split almost in half and another tiny little green rolled across the ash. Elias snatched her up and offered her one of the smallest chunks of meat he had. She snapped it up.

The remaining three eggs failed to hatch. The boys waited a long two hours, watching them, as their new hatchlings slept in their laps, but they never moved.

"I guess they're duds," Elias said, a little disappointed.

"You saved four," Klaus said.

Elias smiled. "Yeah. I guess we did."

* * *

Uncle Monty was able to leave his bed and limp around the croft on crutches, spending most of his day in his small study. He examined the young hatchlings and proclaimed them healthy, congratulating them on the newest additions to their fair.

"Take the unhatched eggs back down to the beach, leave them in nature and for the tide."

Elias and Klaus did so, standing at the edge of the cliff. They leant down to tuck them onto a high ledge, a little wary of going any further. None of them had set foot on the beach since that day. None of them were sure whether they ever wanted to again.

* * *

The newest hatchlings settled right in with the slightly older ones, with Violet's gold Bossy quickly organising them into what the siblings were pretty sure she saw as her fair and scolding them when they took bronze Trill and brown Peep's favourite sleeping cushion. Uncle Monty laughed as they fled to the arms of their boys, chirping in surprise at the reprimand.

"Bossy!" Violet scolded, scooping her up. Bossy trilled, looking pleased with herself as Trill settled on the cushion.

Indigo laughed. "She takes after you Vi."

Violet blushed.

Down the hall they could hear Finn playing the fiddle, his firelizards humming happily.

Uncle Monty smiled. "Firelizards can be somewhat affected by their owners. You don't need to worry all the time Violet. You children will be safe here."

* * *

They would not, and a half turn later Uncle Monty would be dead, but that's a different story.


End file.
